


In Which Jim, Bones, and Spock Come to an Enchanted Place, and We Leave Them There

by sullacat



Series: Little Hero (the bb Spock series) [8]
Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-17
Updated: 2011-04-17
Packaged: 2017-10-18 06:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/186035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sullacat/pseuds/sullacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every child grows up, some faster than others. (8/8 in series)</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Which Jim, Bones, and Spock Come to an Enchanted Place, and We Leave Them There

**Author's Note:**

> for my [Schmoop Bingo card:](http://sullacat.livejournal.com/92694.html) Gift giving. Title borrowed from _House on Pooh Corner_ by A.A Milne.
> 
> No infringement intended, no profit made

[+48 months since change; +15 months since 'Once Upon a Time, Not So Long Ago'; Spock ~=16]

 

"May I speak with you?"

Jim looked up and saw Spock standing in the doorway to his office, straight and tall in his student uniform. "Of course," Jim said, a warm smile on his face, until he saw Spock's face. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Spock shook his head, and Jim suddenly realized what was different.

"You cut your hair."

Spock reached up and touched the side of his head. "I have been contemplating my current situation and changes I would like to see occur soon. In light of those decisions, cutting my hair," he shrugged his shoulders imperceptibly, "it seemed like the correct thing to do."

That piqued Jim's curiosity. "Talk," he said, pointing at a chair, a growing worry in his stomach. What was Spock talking about?

There was a slight hesitation. "I would prefer to speak to both of you."

Now Jim really began to worry. Flipping his communicator, he called Sickbay and asked Bones to come to his office.

Neither spoke while they waited, but Jim's eyes caught Spock's fingers fidgeting, pulling a thread from his tunic. He was about to ask Spock to talk to him when the door opened and Bones walked in. "Everything okay?" he asked, his eyes filled with worry at the sight of them sitting there.

"We're gonna find out," Jim said, his voice curious. "Okay, Spock, what's going on?"

Spock took a breath and began to speak. "As the ship will be passing Narata after our next mission, I have begun training in preparation to undergo the Rite of _Tal'oth_. I have reached Vulcan maturity, and it is my desire to-".

"No," said Jim, looking back down at his padd. Four months alone in the jungle, at sixteen. No food or water, just a single blade.

Not happening.

"-my desire to undergo this rite," Spock said, his voice growing louder, "and upon my return, resume my duties on board this ship in the Science department."

"We discussed this. There is no reason for you to undergo that rite again, particularly when you're still growing at this accelerated rate. What if something happens to you out there? If you remember something and you're all alone, no one around. What if-" Jim shook his head. "You're not doing it."

Bones sighed, a sign that he had something to say. "Spock, you know as well as any of us that your body isn't the same as it was the first time you underwent the rite. Your metabolism, the way your physiology is advancing and decelerating each day, being without food or water - it could do permanent damage that we won't be able to fix later."

"I have considered this," Spock said, turning to look at Bones. "I am willing to take the risk."

"Why is this so important to you?" Jim asked, not trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

"I am an adult," Spock replied calmly, matter-of-factly, "and I wish to be regarded as one, by my fellow Vulcans," he paused, "and by my family. To that end," he continued, "I wish to move to my own quarters."

The room went silent.

"Spock, what is going on?" Jim asked, his voice somewhere between shocked and disappointed. They had discussed this, as a family, mapped out the next year of Spock's life. Finishing his studies, working in the labs and engineering, going with Jim to participate in the Federation resettlement conference at Starbase 11 next month. To find out Spock had been making his own plan wounded Jim in a way he couldn't explain. "This isn't what we decided."

"I have regained my adult memories-" Spock began.

"You have _some_ of the memories-" Jim interrupted.

"-and they are returning at an increasing rate," Spock continued. "I can recall details, events, people I met in my life before-"

Jim shook his head. "No. You are recalling facts you've read, not anything that you remember yet."

Spock turned to face Jim, his eyes dark and blazing with a fire Jim hadn't seen in many years. "I remember defying my father. I stood before the Vulcan Science Council and chose the Academy over him. I remember my mother," his voice slipped, just a fraction, "she comforted me when I was afraid. Do not tell me that I do not remember that."

Jim hadn't known that, and from the look on Bones' face, neither had he. "You are too young," Jim said, feeling like his past was coming back to haunt him. He'd been sixteen when he left the house of his childhood and felt as adult as Spock did right now. Sixteen thought it knew what life was like. Jim had learned the hard way that he hadn't known shit about real life.

But Spock stood, steadfast against the two men in front of him. "It is my wish to assert my independence now."

"You're not ready," Jim repeated.

"I remember Christopher Pike," he said, a small triumph on his face. "I remember Nyota." Jim looked up at that. Not Lt Uhura. _Nyota._ Shit.

"Did she tell you something?"

"She only confirmed what I had suspected," Spock replied coolly. "Our marriage is public record, I have known for quite some time that such a relationship between us existed, but now -" Spock smiled softly, "-my feelings for her are more appropriate to that eventuality."

Fuck, Spock was horny. "Is that what this is all about? You wanna mess around with her?" Jim demanded, about to call her into this meeting to discuss this.

"No," was the quick reply. "We have agreed - that aspect of our relationship will not begin until I reach full legal maturity. It is not my wish to implicate her in scandal or reproach." Spock gave that enigmatic smile again. "I can be patient."

"Bullshit," Jim said. "Then be patient with us and wait until you are back to your old self."

Spock straightened. "Father," he said, addressing both of them. "Please do not think I do not appreciate what you've done for me. I understand the sacrifice to your own lives that you undertook in adopting me. Leonard," Spock said, his voice sounding so very grown as he turned to look at Bones, staring back at him in silence. "Jim." He looked down at that, his name spoken by that voice, hadn't heard that in years. "I'm not certain I could have done the same thing in your place."

Jim stood there, his feet glued to the floor, completely speechless. This morning, he'd had a son, a family... was all that over now?

It was too soon.

"Spock," Bones said quietly, taking a few steps toward the Vulcan. He looked back at Jim, then at Spock. "Three months. Demonstrate this patience to us, and give us one more 'year'," he added, making little air quotes. "That will give us all time to prepare quarters, if you want them, to communicate with the colony regarding the _Tal'oth_." Another look at Jim, then back at Spock. "Give us that much?"

An air of disappointment surrounded the young Vulcan, but he did not disagree.

The silence in the room was deafening. "Give us a little time to talk about this, okay?" Jim asked, catching a flash of anger in Spock's eyes as the young man left the room. "He's too young."

"Maybe," Bones sighed, crossing his arms. "Maybe for a normal situation, but this is anything but that."

"He can't be on his own," Jim said, sitting down on a chair, as Bones did the same.

"And he won't be. He'll be on board here with us, still under our protection until he's full grown, another year or so, except for the Rite of _Tal'oth_ , which we both knew was always a possibility."

Four months in the desert, Jim knew that Spock had survived his time in the desert the first time he took the Rite, remarking on occasion how enlightening the experience had been. "I don't like it."

"Between his memories coming back and what he's learned from Nyota and us, he's a different person than he was the first time he was sixteen."

Fuck, Bones sounded like he _agreed_ with Spock. "You knew he was thinking this?"

Bones hesitated."... I could see it coming."

"Well fuck."

"We knew it was gonna happen sooner or later," Bones glared at Jim. "Are you really that surprised?"

"I'm sorry I'm not taking this as well as you," Jim muttered.

"That's a load of bullshit," Bones stood, stepping toward Jim, "and you know it."

"I don't know what I know. I thought we had a plan, we're moving toward his future together, as a family. And now... didn't any of it mean anything?" he tried to keep the emotion from his voice. "He doesn't give a shit about the last four years. He's just decided he's grown-up, an adult now, and now he's gone." Could they do anything to stop him? Probably not, Jim told himself, feeling pretty fucking helpless.

"Don't get like that," Bones told him, pulling Jim up and wrapping his arms around him. "The kid loves you," he whispered into Jim's ear, "wants your respect more than anything in the world." He made a soft sighing noise. "Spock wants to be the man you remember, your friend."

"He wants to be away from us."

"Dammit Jim," Bones pulled back enough to look Jim in the face. "He wants to grow up so he can help you save the world again."

Jim's arms tightened around Bones, his head pressed into his shoulder. "How do I send him on an away mission now, knowing that something could happen to him?"

"The same way you send me," Bones told him, lifting Jim's chin, their eyes meeting. "He'll be ready, because we'll make sure he's ready. Hell, he's smarter than most people on board right now. Stronger, quicker..."

"I know," Jim sighed. "Its just..." He looked down on his desk at a picture drawn for him by tiny hands, two men and a little boy with pointed ears. "I know people say that time flies and it goes so fast, but fuck, here it really did."

Bones' lips found Jim's forehead. "This is what we wanted, remember? He'll be the man we knew in a couple years, because you," he pressed his hand against Jim's chest, "you made the decision, the right one, that we needed to take care of him. You leapt, because you always do, and I love you for it."

 

Two months later they held a small dinner in Spock's new quarters. The four of them, Jim and Bones, Spock, and Nyota enjoyed a simple Vulcan meal prepared by Spock, and quietly discussed ship's business, Scotty's latest improvements to the warp drive, and where everyone wanted to go on the next shore leave. After dinner, Jim looked around Spock's new room, at the decorations on the walls, Vulcan weapons, draperies and candles. Personal effects from his stored possessions, or things from Nyota's room, he suspected. It all looked strangely adult - and achingly familiar.

Spock had changed, was still changing. He would be taking a shuttle in a few days to Natara, all on his own, and when Spock returned he'd be different in more ways than Jim wanted to think about. The little boy he knew was gone forever. His friend would be back soon. But right now, he was alone.

Well, not 'alone'. Never alone. "You ready?" he heard Bones' voice in his ear, one arm wrapped around his waist and Jim smiled to himself.

"Just about." Jim made sure that Spock's attention was occupied and slipped over to drop a gift off on Spock's bed, a well-read book with a worn spine, an orange bear waving up from the cover. One last look inside at the first page, a series of little boy's names, each written in distinctive lettering.

George Kirk  
Jim's book  
S'chn T'gai Spock

 

There would be children for Spock and Nyota... and there was still space at the bottom for more names. Jim took a deep breath and tucked it under Spock's pillow and went to find Bones. "I'm ready now," he said, feeling the change begin to settle in his heart. After giving Nyota a hug and clapping Spock on the shoulder, Jim and Bones walked out of the room, in silence down the hall to their own quarters. It looked emptier now with Spock's things gone, their own possessions in scattered boxes.

Tomorrow they'd be moving back to their old Captain's quarters, just the two of them.

Once inside, Bones pulled Jim close to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said, chuckling a little. "When I was little, I used to think it was cool, the idea of leaving home. That silly story... in the end Christopher Robin headed off to school. He was growing up, you know?" Jim made a little shrug. "Couldn't wait until that was me, getting the fuck out of Iowa, away from Frank."

"And now?"

Jim rested his head against Bones' temple, just quiet. Now he was the one saying goodbye. Not goodbye to Spock, but to that feeling, to being a Dad. To seeing that look in young eyes. To being someone's whole world, even just for a little while.

Bones seemed to understand that.

"Too damn young to feel this... what is it - empty nest syndrome?"

Bones laughed quietly into his skin. "When I left for college my mom got herself a cocker spaniel, so Dad would have something around to yell at," he said, a sad smile on his face even though his eyes were wet.

"I swear, Bones, if you tell me something to make me feel better, I'm gonna demote you," Jim murmured, kissing his neck. "I just want to be sad for a bit, okay?" he sniffled, blinking back the wetness that threatened. They stood there and held each other for a while, until Jim pulled back. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, we're done here." Wry little smile on his face. "Mission accomplished, right?" They'd taken in an infant and raised him, strong and healthy, into a young man they were still proud to call 'son'. Four years of their life spent as a family - and Jim recognized that would never happen again.

But it was over. Time to move on.

"Jim..." Bones kissed him again, cradling Jim's face in his hands.

"Bridge to Captain Kirk."

They both looked down at the communicator. "Kirk here," he said, wiping one of his eyes.

"Sensors are indicating an anomaly ahead of us, and we're, well, we're not quite sure what's going on there."

"I'm on my way." Jim said, wondering what it was, and glad to be feeling something other than sad. Giving Bones a quick kiss, he headed toward one of the boxes, and pulled out a uniform shirt. Maybe some time in his beloved chair would make him feel more like his old self. Looking over at Bones, he asked, "You want to come?"

Bones looked around the empty room, watching Jim change into a uniform. "Yeah, I'll tag along," Bones said slowly, like he didn't want to be in the room either, too many ghosts around, little feet and laughter and the sounds of children. Bones changed shirts and followed Jim out the door, down the hall to the turbolift. They held hands briefly inside, and in the split second before the door opened onto the bridge, they looked at each other once more, in perfect understanding, and got back to work.


End file.
